Adventure Awaits! Huzzah! 12

"Himmel, watch this closely. I shall show you the greatest magic I can cast." Those were certainly some exciting words.

Sonya had taken him to their usual training grounds, but the look on her face was more serious than usual, and he now understood why. Since she was a supposed master of Black Magic, he could only guess she was about to do something truly insane.

He gulped. "O-okay..." It was hard to think of any destructive magic capable of surpassing Thunder.

And most importantly, it was hard to think of a magic being harder to learn than Thunder! What could be worse than constantly electrocuting your body like an idiot!?

His teacher blushed. "And I also need you to stand a bit farther away. It's shameful for me to admit, but this is not a spell I have mastered." Oh, so she could accidentally blast him away.

Scary. Nowadays Kris didn't follow them anymore, trusting Sonya, but he had a feeling that if his guardian learned of this, they would quickly revert back to the previous status quo.

Still, he trusted his teacher, so he took a few steps back.

She smiled. "Now watch... the magic that made me obtain my title of master." Even though she hadn't actually mastered it? Then it must be something truly crazy...

Wind began flowing around the body of his teacher. It was enough to even cut the grass around her, and he assumed that if he had been closer, he would have been wounded as well. It was... impressive, but indeed a sign she could not manipulate it well just yet.

That wind became stronger and stronger until Sonya extended her hands to the sky. "Excalibur!" And so, his teacher shot a damned hurricane to the skies.

It reached all the way to the clouds, cutting them into pieces. It was an insane display of power, one that had probably been seen all the way from Ram Village.

Naturally, Himmel's jaw hit the floor.

He knew from history that magic that could alter the whole course of a battle existed, but he had never seen one in display... until now.

And then Sonya fell on her ass. His poor teacher was paler than he had ever seen her be before, those were the symptoms of having utilized far too much life force.

He rushed to her side. "Lady Sonya, are you alright!?" He knew it was her ultimate move, so being expensive made sense, but he had never seen her like this.

She took some time to recompose herself. "I-I'm fine, Himmel... Excalibur just takes a lot out of me." He could see that!

"Still, do you need any healing, Lady Sonya?" It wouldn't be the same as actually resting, especially since he wasn't exactly great at using Recovery, but it was something.

Sonya took a deep breath, still out of it. "I would certainly appreciate it..." And so he put his hands over her and began using Recovery. "Ah... That hits the spot." And then he immediately almost failed!

Didn't this fool understand that her apprentice was experiencing puberty!? Expecting him to make calculations in his head while hearing someone's relieved moans was just far too much! Were he a lesser loser, he would have attacked his tired teacher right there and then!

Thankfully, he could control himself. "That was very impressive, Lady Sonya, I've never seen anything quite like it before."

She let out a weak giggle. "I would hope so. There are not many mages who know the ultimate Wind magic running around Ram Village, I imagine." Eh, you should never underestimate Ram Village!

It was the home of the son of Sigurd! It had been the home of a princess! And it was also the home of whatever the fuck Alm was! Clearly the place attracted trouble.

Ignoring that though... "So that's the strongest Wind magic?"

She shook her head. "I exaggerate a bit. Some call it that, but there is certainly Wind magic that surpasses it. Forseti of Jugdral comes to mind." As far as Himmel was concerned, a Holy Weapon was basically cheating. "And there are mages across the world who can certainly fire an Excalibur more powerful than mine."

Not all magic was equal just because it was the same. One just needed to look at how much Himmel's little Fire had progressedsince the days when he could only create a small spark of flame.

Even so, Himmel was very impressed. "Imagining something stronger than that is pretty difficult, if I'm being honest."

She waved him off. "Now, now, I've already decided to teach it to you, so no need to butter me up, Himmel."

It took him some time to understand what she had said. "Please, Lady Sonya, flattering you is basically my job as your studen— You're gonna teach that to me!?" He definitely wasn't ready for it!

His teacher winced. "Do not scream in a lady's ear, Himmel." Could he be blamed for it, however!? "And we won't start with Excalibur immediately, first you must learn Wind." Right. Before learning an ultimate move, you had to learn the basic move.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Okay then, I'll be doing my best." She was probably just trying to give him a future goal by showing him that.

Mission achieved. He definitely wanted that.

He put a hand to his chin. "Though I can't help but wonder what manner of pain Wind will inflict on my body." He actually knew a fair bit of the magic.

Mostly because it showed up across many, many battles in history. One of the common ways of dealing with Pegasus Knights was by utilizing a group of mages that knew Wind magic, since it would push the riders off of the pegasi or just fuck up their flying in general... He was seriously never gonna ride one of those things unless the parachute was invented.

Some color had begun to return to Sonya's face. "It will feel as if you're being punched from all directions at first. Normal Wind is just an exertion of force after all."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Definitely not as bad as Thunder.

She nodded. "Indeed. But once we get to Excalibur, things get much more complicated, failure can lead to external... and internal bleeding. It's a magic that cuts after all." That's...! "Are you ready for it, Himmel?"

He didn't hesitate to answer. "No, but I will be once I learn Wind." He now understood a bit better why Thunder was used as a way to gatekeep new mages.

How many unprepared people in the past had died trying to learn Excalibur? How many times had Sonya almost died trying to learn it? A mage couldn't heal themselves, which meant she either had to find a partner or she stocked up on Recovery Items.

You really would be risking your life for it.

His teacher chuckled. "Just try not to learn it too fast..." She was making fun of him!?

The worst part is that he couldn't even argue back after his previous performances.



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"Thanks for this, Himmel. I really appreciate it." Tobin awkwardly scratched his cheek.

Himmel chuckled. "Don't worry about it, I have a bunch of these lying around anyways." He handed a Vulnerary over to the boy. "Just don't go talking about it to everyone with a pair of ears. Thanks."

Honestly, he probably shouldn't even be giving the boy a Recovery Item. But... Tobin's mom had gotten a bit sick. It was nothing alarming right now, but better safe than sorry. You never knew when something like that could spiral out of proportion, so it was better to stop it early.

Tobin sighed. "Don't go talking about it? Pretty much everyone knows you have these, dude." Hah? "I mean, you're pretty much the village's doctor."

Okay, maybe Himmel had pretty much offered a Vulnerary every time someone was sick... But what was he supposed to do!? Ignore them!? He tried using Recovery magic instead most of the time, but he had experience healing cuts with that, not sicknesses!

Himmel pinched his nose. "Whatever, I guess it's fine." As long as it didn't reach the ears of an outsider, he shouldn't be in trouble.

Tobin smiled. "That's the spirit. It's not a bad thing, you know, people really appreciate you." That was good to hear.

This was the community he would spend the rest of his life in, so having most of them in his debt was probably going to be useful eventually. Although it would be a pain in the ass if someone started suffering something serious and expected Himmel to heal them.

The smile on his friend's face faltered. "So, how much for this?"

Himmel raised an eyebrow. "How much of what?"

Tobin tilted his head, confused. "How much gold, dude?" And then he became offended at Himmel's own confusion. "You weren't expecting me to just take this for free, were you?" Ah, it was some Tobin pride.

Himmel respected that, somewhat. "No need to pay me anything, I hand these out for free." It wasn't like it was super hard to make them.

Honestly, he even thought about spreading the recipe around, but he had been too scared of the consequences. If a super mage heard tale of it, he could make his way and start a fight, and Himmel did not consider himself ready for it.

Tobin scowled. "Seriously, dude? You're way too lax with money."

Himmel chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not doing this out of charity." He wasn't an idiot. "It's just that I have coin in spades, so instead I am trying to acquire something else." That something was the trust of Ram Village.

Besides, Tobin would be pretty much paying Himmel with his own money. His source of income was working for Himmel after all.

Tobin scoffed. "And that something is...?"

Himmel's chuckling turned into laughter. "It's my secret." He pretty much pushed the Vulnerary into Tobin's hands.

A mistake.

Because his teacher decided to show up. "Himmel, what are you doing?" Her sophisticated voice could make her sound terrifying when she was angry.

Himmel paled. "Ah, hello Lady Sonya, I was..."

Tobin spoke up. "We're just testing some Ram Village brand wine." His friend immediately understood what was going on.

Alas, his attempts to help were kind of stupid.

Sonya rolled her eyes. "That thing this village calls wine tastes like piss." It really did. "And do not get involved, boy." At least she wouldn't do anything to Tobin.

Tobin's eye twitched. "I can get involved as much as I please." And there it was. The thing Himmel thought was more important than coin.

Tobin was standing up to a woman who could make hurricanes because she was sounding a bit too mean. There was no way that was less valuable than some shiny metal.

But it wasn't time for Himmel to be proud of his progress. "Peace, Tobin, my teacher means no offense. Although I do appreciate the attempt at a save." Even if it was a very clumsy one.

Tobin squinted his eyes. "Are you sure she means no offense?" She was indeed glaring at Himmel...

But he wouldn't back down. "If she does, then we shall handle this as adults." He looked back at his teacher. "Isn't that right, Lady Sonya?"

She nodded. "Yes. I shall scold you until you realize your mistake. Now come, we are having a talk. Privately." Yikes.

Trust was worth more than gold, but his own life was worth more than trust. Maybe he should have kept that in mind.



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"I understand that you are angry, but—"

"I am not angry, Himmel." His teacher's features had softened up. "Well, I was angry, but that was due to worry." W-wow, she really was acting like an adult! "And now worry is all that remains. What were you thinking, Himmel?"

He frowned. "I... My friend's mother... Tobin's mother is sick. It's not something I could have threatened without the aid of a Vulnerary." His Recovery really was lacking.

But it was a spell way too difficult to hone.

Mostly because targets for practice were hard to find. First of all, animals were just not good enough, healing one felt... different from healing a human. Second of all, he had reached a point where he couldn't just go to Faye and inflict a bigger wound than he had done in the past, it would be cruel, not to mention painful.

Which brought up the matter of healing the sick. When someone fell ill in the village, Himmel had two choices, he either asked them if he could practice his healing on them as if they were lab rats... or he healed them immediately. He typically went with the latter.

It was something that priests and priestesses could probably avoid just due to the sheer amount patients they had.

So Himmel had stagnated in Recovery magic.

Sonya hummed. "I see... I suppose I cannot blame you for healing a friend." Oh? He wasn't in trouble? "But make sure to silence him, and next time something similar happens, call me instead. I shall handle it." For coin, he assumed.

That was fine, but it was a bit too late for her solution. "So... the problem with that is... that I've kind of been doing this for a while?" He said it as if it were a question. "I think most of the village knows it by this point."

"What?" He was definitely going to be in trouble.

A blush appeared on his face. "I've been handing out Vulneraries for a while... Honestly, I didn't think news of it was spreading around, but Tobin corrected me." It was inevitable in a small village.

The only reason Himmel had not noticed was due to how busy he always was. Meanwhile, Sonya must have not heard of it, because much like Kris, she didn't tend to interact with the people of the village that much.

Her eye twitched. "Himmel... I always knew you could be a bit of a fool." Ouch. "But I expected more maturity from you..." This was worse than normal anger.

She just sounded disappointed.

That had never happened in the past. No matter how much time Himmel took to learn a spell or some other thing she was teaching him, she always tried to at least fake being impressed. So seeing this side of her was definitely a surprise, and not a good one.

An annoyed groan left her mouth. "What a pain..." Sonya started to mutter to herself. "Now how to contain this..."

He looked away. "Is it really such a big issue? I'm making Vulneraries, not Elixirs..."

His teacher sighed. "It's not the end of the world, but there is a military outpost to the northeast of Ram Village. I fear that if word reaches their ears, it would bring attention upon you. Without a doubt they would come to at least try and recruit you."

That was it? "Let them come, I'll simply reject them." And even if they were insistent, he wasn't a kid. He knew how to say no multiple times if need be.

A frown adorned her face. "Did you not hear what I said? Eyes would be upon you. Could you really handle that?" Of course, why would he...

Oh. It finally clicked.

Sonya didn't know of his story, but his teacher was smart, she undoubtedly knew something was up with his family. No normal commoner family had enough money to do what his family did, and they were very clearly not merchants.

So Sonya most likely thought he was some kind of noble. And she was right, though he wasn't of Zofia.

What if the men from the military outpost learned about his father? The Brand was on his back, but it could be dangerous... And even ignoring that, Himmel had to think of other people. What if a soldier saw Alm's Brand? Nobody in the village cared for it, and Sonya was smart enough to not ask, but all it would take was a soldier with too much curiosity...

It finally dawned on Himmel. "I'm sorry, Lady Sonya, I..." He didn't want to say he messed up. While he had made a mistake, it was one done to support his friends.

She waved him off. "It's fine. At least you understand the issue here... I suppose I shall take credit for now. Next time someone asks for your support, claim that I produce the Vulneraries."

His face became filled with concern. "Would that really fix anything?" Soldiers would still come to the village, it's just that now they would bother poor Sonya instead.

The chance of one of them noticing something strange about Himmel or Alm was still there.

"Yes, because once I reject someone, they stop trying." She grinned. "I do have a reputation, they'll know they can't handle me." Right. She was a master magician. "And once I leave the village, that will be that. They forget all about this place."

She raised a finger. "Though that does mean you will need to stop handing Vulneraries around like candy. As far as people are concerned, it must be like I never taught you that recipe." Because then the heat would go away with her once she eventually left.

That would probably be a few years from now, though.

And even ignoring that. "But... I..."

She squinted her eyes at him, daring to challenge her. "You what, Himmel?"

He gulped. "I... want to keep giving people Vulneraries? L-like, even after you leave." He was fine with following her plan for now, though!

And now his teacher seemed actually angry. "Why? And you better not answer with something as asinine as wishing to help people."

It definitely wasn't that. "I don't want to help people, what I want to do is help my community." Now it was his turn to frown. "I live here... I can't just look away when someone is in trouble." That's what it meant to be part of a community.

Once again, her anger disappeared. "Himmel... I can understand wanting to help your friends, but... focus on the road. The one you're walking on. Distractions shall only slow you down, perhaps enough that you shall lose yourself."

He tilted his head. "The road I'm walking on? Do you want me to focus more on magic?" But it wasn't like this was eating up his time...

Her tone of voice became... strange. "No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your... purpose. The reason why you train magic every day. The reason why you put so much effort into it." She sounded like she genuinely cared about it.

It was a shame Himmel didn't have a single clue what she was going on about. "My purpose is protecting my friends." Or at least that's the reason he was learning magic, or more accurately... "Or maybe I should say that my purpose is living a good life."

He continued. "I am truly glad you seem to care so much about my efforts, Lady Sonya." Even when those efforts didn't lead to much. "But if I look away when someone from Ram Village calls me, then I have been wasting my time."

Sonya clicked her tongue. "Aren't you the little hero?" He definitely wasn't! Did she miss the part where he talked about just helping the people close to him!? "But fine. In the end it's your choice."

Hopefully that meant she wouldn't snitch on him to Kris. The old man could very much put an end to it, and Himmel would not be able to do anything about it.

His teacher continued. "And I suppose news of this most likely won't leave Ram Village as long as you do not treat a stranger anyways... Oh, and make sure to shut those merchants up." She was definitely talking about Gray's parents.

They were basically the only people in the village who traveled around, after all.

Now that Himmel was out of the danger zone, he let out a sigh of relief. "I'll try my best to do so, Lady Sonya."

She huffed. "Make sure that you do so—. Actually, even better, I shall handle them and any other villagers myself." So she was going to go around threatening people in his name!?

Himmel was pretty sure that all the trust he had built was about to be replaced with fear. Oh well, he had made a blunder, and now he would just have to accept living with it.

Himmel gave her a bow, trying to show some gratitude. "Thank you for the assistance, Lady Sonya." Even if it would probably ruin some of his plans.

She huffed once again. "No need to thank me, I did once say I was invested in you, didn't I?" She actually meant it!? "Honestly, you can be such a problem child for such a polite and mature boy." That just meant he was a shitty adult.

Although this whole talk of roads did bring something to his mind. "By the way, Lady Sonya, if you don't mind me asking... what is your road?" He guessed it was related to money.

From what he had learned thus far, a person could make tons of cash by being a mage. Be it by selling products such as Vulneraries and Tomes, or by joining the military and becoming an important asset.

And these were just the first things that came to mind, no doubt there were many other jobs.

Surprisingly, Sonya winced. "My road...? Are you asking for my goal?

He nodded. "Uh-hum. You brought it up with me, so now I'm curious as to why you started learning magic." He said his piece, it was only fair, she said hers, right?

She looked down. "I..." Sonya looked genuinely sad, as if Himmel had just made her think about something awful.

He immediately regretted his curiosity. "B-but you don't need to tell me if you don't want to!" He could smell a dark backstory from a mile away! She had the same eyes as Celica, after all.

And just like with Celica, he knew forcing things out was never the solution to help. That was probably even more so when dealing with an adult.

His reaction seemed to snap her out of it. "Perhaps in the future, then." She patted his head. "It's something you need to hear anyhow."

"Then when the time comes, my ears will be open."



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Year 397, Zofia.

The wind roared around his body, just as fiercely as it once did around Sonya.

He could feel his lifeforce disappearing rapidly, it was so fast that for a few moments he felt as if he was about to die. However, he had grown accustomed to this feeling, one that came with casting such a powerful spell.

So he didn't lose focus. Losing focus would mean that the wind around him would turn from ally to foe. It would mean failing yet again.

He pointed both arms to the sky, much like his teacher, he could not do this with one hand alone. "Excalibur!" He finally managed to use the so-called ultimate wind magic.

It flew upwards, just as high as his teacher's magic had done, cutting through the clouds as well. For the second time, Ram Village witnessed a hurricane.

He immediately fell down to the ground. "Ah... I... did it..." The feeling of tiredness was immense, his body was screaming at him to pass out. To take a rest.

It reminded him of when he was a kid and had just started messing with Fire magic. Differently from that, however, this was not a case of his body being undeveloped, it was a case that this magic truly was unbelievably advanced.

He probably only managed to pull it off because of his Holy Blood making him a stamina juggernaut.

Sonya silently rushed to his side and kneeled in front of him. "You certainly seem to have pulled it off." Her expression was grim as she started using Recovery Magic on him.

Excalibur could be a treacherous magic. There were times in the past when he felt as if he had almost done it, only to then vomit blood a few minutes later. That is to say, sometimes the feeling of weakness caused by using so much life force could mask the pain of internal bleeding.

So his teacher was checking to see if he had truly done it. "I... don't think there's any damage. Congratulations, Himmel. You are now a master of Black Magic."

He smiled, or at least he tried to. "I think it's way too early to give me such lofty titles, I still have a long way to go." But he had taken an amazing step.

It felt like he had been learning Wind, and then Excalibur for ages. So to finally succeed at it certainly felt great.

His teacher pouted. "Honestly, you are too stubborn for your own good. When a beautiful woman says something, you are always to accept it with a smile."

That was some terrifying advice. "I don't think that's wise. What if the beautiful woman starts calling me trash or something?" Actually, considering what type of guy he was, that woman would probably be correct in doing so.

His teacher grinned. "Then that woman is playing a weird, weird game." What did that even mean!?

He didn't dare ask that out loud. So the two silently basked in the comfort of the wind. One glad that he had made tons of progress, and the other one probably glad that her apprentice hadn't died and she could keep sucking money out of his pockets.

Suddenly, his teacher began muttering to herself. "It's now or never, huh?"

Feeling a bit of his strength returning, Himmel sat up. "Um? Something's up?" Was this the part where she finally stopped being super nice and talked shit about his skills?

His teacher closed his eyes. "My road started on Rigel." Ah. So it was time for this talk. "And before you ask, yes, that means I'm from Rigel." Surprising, but not impossible.

While the border was protected by the Divine Accord, that mostly applied to registered soldiers. People could ask for permission to cross, and merchants did it all the time. There were also people who straight up passed through it illegally. As long as you weren't a soldier, neither Mila nor Duma would smite you.

She looked down. "I... lived in a monastery with two sisters of mine. We had been abandoned by our family... but it wasn't bad. Contrary to what every Zofian says, Rigel isn't a land of barbarians who seek only to shed blood."

"It was... nice living there. My sisters and I prayed for Duma, not as a war god of conquest, but as a war god of protection. He had given us our homes, and he would not let anyone take that away." She suddenly stopped.

He did not say anything. Simply silently waiting for her to build up her courage once again.

When it did happen, she sounded both furious and heartbroken. "We were a bunch of fools. Our father eventually came back, and no prayer to Duma... to that thing, would protect us." She gritted her teeth. "You know of witches, don't you, Himmel?"

He knew they were an important part of Valentian history after all. "Yes. They're powerful military assets of Rigel, all masters of Warp magic." Did her father force them to become one?

Was that why she had taken this road? Did that mean his teacher knew Warp?

"That is correct, but I imagine you do not know how they are made." The heartbreak had all but disappeared, only hatred remained. "A witch is born when a woman sells her soul to the war god in exchange for great power, becoming a husk in the process. A mindless slave."

His eyes widened. "W-what!? How can that even be a thing!?" It sounded ludicrous.

But could he really deny it? Duma was a supposed god, and Himmel knew souls most likely did exist. The fact that he was around was basically proof of that.

She crossed her arms. "I don't know, such power is far beyond what mere mortals can comprehend. Nonetheless, it does exist... And it can be done even when Duma is a shell of his former self."

Himmel tilted his head. "Have you... met the Father?" Was that possible? Just as meeting Mila was possible?

"I've met the bastard. Or at least what remains of him." She looked right into his eyes. "Himmel, be aware that spreading around what I am about to tell you would most likely mean the Rigel empire would forever hunt you down."

And suddenly he didn't want to hear this. "I understand." But nonetheless, he had to. Or at least Sonya needed to hear it.

"Very well then. Duma, he... I believe he has gone senile." Himmel's jaw hit the floor. "My contact with him was brief, but my father, a very high-ranking Duma faithful, even equated him to a walking corpse."

That seemed insane for Himmel. Completely and utterly... impossible. But he didn't actually know a damn thing about gods. Most people didn't. For all he knew, much like humans, they could age and naturally become old and possibly... senile.

She spat out her next words. "Once my father showed this to me and my sisters, he then convinced them that the sacrifice of their souls would bring the god to its former glory. That Duma would once again justly rule over Rigel."

And suddenly, all that sadness was back. "And those fools... those damned idiots actually bought his lies! They... they..." They became witches. What happened was clear. "Their sacrifice did nothing, they were just tricked so my father could gain a set of powerful slaves."

He now felt a bit of the rage she did. "But why!? Why use his own daughters!?" The fact that such a thing happened at all was horrible, of course, but why pick his own family for it!?

She shrugged. "To gain some sadistic pleasure from it, I assume. Or perhaps he thought his daughters belonging to a mad senile god would be an honorable fate for them? Either way, I rejected his offer, he tried to force me, I lucked into a miracle and escaped."

"And then I began my road towards obtaining power... Not because I want to protect something, but because I want to kill my father, maybe end Duma too, if I'm lucky." She took a deep breath. "Not exactly the greatest of motivations for learning, wouldn't you agree?"

He was far too angry to joke with her. "Your father is the scum of the Earth. Someday I shall see that his head be put on a spike." He didn't even know where that answer had come from.

Her eyes widened. "I... You shouldn't be making such oaths, Himmel, lest someone take you seriously."

He really shouldn't. Nonetheless... "I don't care. I want you to take it seriously..." Did he? He definitely did.

More than anything, Himmel wanted to live a good life. He wanted to protect the people near him and to utilize them to their greatest extent to make a good community to live in. Naturally, Sonya had become part of that community a long time ago.

That is not to say he wanted to join a battle against some mad religious figure. If this had been like Kris needless desire to bring war to Jugdral, he would have avoided it. But it wasn't like that, her father was a threat to his happiness that he could not avoid.

So he would have to do something. "In fact, let me make this official. I, Himmel, swear upon my name that I..." This wasn't right, so he stopped it.

She smirked, misunderstanding him. "Did you just realize what you were about to do?"

He ignored her. "I... Seliph Baldos Chalphy, swear upon my name, upon my blood, that when the day comes that you face your father, I shall be there if you call me." There. That felt right. "Even if an amateur mage probably won't help much."

As one would expect, Sonya was too shocked to comment on the amateur mage part. "Baldos Chalphy!?" She knew enough to recognize the name.

Seliph nodded. "Yeah..." Geez, now that he had done it, he felt stupid. "It's only right that I reveal my true name to you after you told me all of that." Or at least that was the excuse he would tell to himself.

It felt good though, to talk to someone about it. He could only hope Sonya felt the same thing on her side.

Well, she had yet to recover from the shock, so she was probably just feeling surprised currently. "But... how!? Who exactly are you!?" An appropriate question.

Seliph sighed. "I am the son of Sigurd of Chalphy... supposedly. I do have the Brand of Major Holy Blood on my back to prove it at least." A convenient spot to hide it, certainly far better than Alm's. "Since my head is quite the prize in Jugdral, Kris took me here..."

Slowly Sonya began to recompose herself. "I... why are you telling me this?"

Out of self-admitted stupidity. Trust really did go both ways... "Because you... It's only fair after what you told me. Besides, if I swore an oath under a fake name, it would just be mean." Even if he almost considered Himmel to be his real name.

She snorted. "I see... and to think I believed you to be the child of Lima IV." That was probably Celica.

Either that or she was a princess from Rigel. Then again, considering Himmel's existence, from all he knew she was from a completely different continent. It was hard to say when he lived in such an insane world.

Himmel looked away. "Honestly, I wish I were sometimes..." He could live a good and lazy life!

Except most of the king's children had been massacred, with perhaps the sole exception of Celica. So if he had been born a prince of Zofia, it would indeed be a good and lazy life... just a short one as well.

"However, my parentage doesn't matter for now. What matters is my oath." He wasn't afraid of her spreading his true name around. "I really do mean it. Call me, and I'll answer it." Hopefully when that happened he would be strong enough to contribute.

Maybe he could fire exactly one Excalibur and then become useless for the rest of the fight.

His teacher looked understandably lost. "I... To think the son of Sigurd of Chalphy would offer me his assistance. To think I am teaching the son of Sigurd of Chalphy in the first place!"

Seliph flinched. "P-please don't scream about it, it could get me in trouble." Kris would actually cut his tongue.

"Get you in trouble? That seems to be what you seek." He only sought very specific trouble. "But I am in no position to reject your help. I'll really come for you, so be ready."

He smiled. Seliph had expected a rejection, so for her to accept immediately was a good thing. "Great. I will be waiting then... and training too, of course."

Sonya chuckled. "I wonder how my father will react to fighting a descendant of a crusader." Hopefully by not immediately killing that descendant. "It will certainly be quite the sight."

"With that said, now that you have revealed this to me... What is that you and Kris plan on doing? If I can ask that at all?" Even his teacher wasn't immune to curiosity, huh?

Well, he had gone this far. "Kris wishes for me to move towards Jugdral and eventually kill Emperor Arvis... Which I have no intention of doing. You know what I'm about." Hopefully one day Kris would understand.

"Indeed I do." She patted his head. "Indeed I do... However, should such a day come when you march to Jugdral, I shall be there by your side. That is my own oath."

Cool? "Oh, and one more thing, Lady Sonya. Please don't tell Kris about this conversation. He will ground me for eternity."

"I'll think about your case." Oof.



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"Do you really have to go?" Himmel was once again saying goodbye to someone he cared about.

Sonya nodded without hesitation. "Yes. There's not much reason for me to stay here anymore."

Himmel's eyes widened. "Wha—, but...!" Did he mess something up!? Was she leaving because of the Seliph thing!? Or maybe...! "I-Is this about money!? I can pay you more if you want to!"

He looked at Kris, who was staying silent. "Right? We have enough coin!" But his guardian just stayed annoyingly silent.

Sonya chuckled. "It's not a matter of coin, Himmel." Then he really did mess something up! "It's just that I must continue walking that road. The one... we discussed." The road that would lead to her father's revenge.

He understood that, of course, but this still didn't make sense. "But why now!?" Did she get money to...

Actually, now that he thought about it, he never asked her why she accepted the job of teaching him. He used to assume there was no reason for it, everyone needed bread on the table after all, but after hearing about her father, he couldn't help but regret not asking her.

She smiled. "Because of you... More specifically, because you reminded me of that road in the first place." She raised a hand and looked at it. "Before I came here, I was... lost. Really, really lost. I knew where I wanted to go, but that was it."

She continued. "My will was drying up, even revenge can only take you so far... So I've began just... existing. Doing jobs I did not care about, wasting time. And then I met you, someone basically made out of will..."

She grinned. "It reignited something or other in me! So I'm ready to go out and learn again!" That was...

Good. It was definitely a good thing.

He could acknowledge that, just as he understood that Celica leaving the village had been for her own good. His teacher was not going to learn any new magic by being here, she wasn't going to get stronger, so this made sense, but...

"I... still want to learn things from you." He failed to learn magic fast enough, and now he would lose his teacher.

She rolled her eyes. "And I wish I could still teach things to you, but that isn't possible anymore." Ah, so she really was leaving because of his lack of tal— "And before you start thinking of something depressing, which I know you are..."

She leaned forward. "I can't teach you anything, because you have already learned everything."

"H-huh...?" Was this some kind of joke?

She scowled. "Don't huh me. It's the truth. After you learned Excalibur, you pretty much completed your training, I'm afraid. You and I are equals, two masters of Black Magic."

Yeah, it was definitely some kind of joke. "I know this is rich coming from me, but can we stop the jokes for now...?" He needed to come up with a method of stopping her leave.

Or... he just needed to accept that she would be gone.

Her eye twitched. "How annoying. Did you forget what I told you about beautiful women!? You are a master of Black Magic! You can use the ultimate Wind spell! What more do you want before you feel satisfied!?"

"B-but I haven't even started yet..." He knew three Black Magics! That was definitely not enough!

His teacher hugged him out of nowhere. "I know. I know that you haven't even started yet... but you're still a master of Black Magic. One that is equal to me... unless you wish to insult my skills before I leave?"

"I..." W-was she serious about this...?

The hug got tighter. "You are far too stubborn, brat, so allow me to drill this into your head. You. Are. A. Master. Magician." Was he!? "Now say it! The hug won't end until you say it!"

He had a feeling that she was serious, so he was forced to relent. "I-I'm a master magician..." This felt weirdly embarrassing.

And it also felt good.

Was he really such a great mage...? If he had reached his teacher, that was certainly the case.

Yeah, he was a master mage. He had definitely cheated to get there, being an adult and possibly abusing the Paragon Ring, but he was a master nonetheless. One that could throw a hurricane at people.

As promised, she ended the hug. "You're a master magician! Say it with more pride!" But she also shouted right into his face.

There was no way he could disobey such an order. "I am a master magician!"

And finally, his teacher seemed to be satisfied. "You are. Never forget that."



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Year 398, Zofia.

Pilgrimages!

Back in his old world, occasionally a peasant would actually go onto one. It was a simple thing, visit some big and special religious place, have an adventure of a lifetime that you would never forget, and then go back home to your shitty job.

And apparently it was also an occasional thing in this world too.

Alm excitedly pointed at the map. "Hey, how about we go all the way to the military outpost instead of just going to that old abandoned shrine?"

Himmel raised an eyebrow. "Why would we even do that? You're thinking of enlisting?"

That was actually one of the benefits of these pilgrimages. People could go out and find new jobs in case they weren't having much work to do in their original village. Alm shouldn't do it though, they would notice his Brand.

Honestly, he couldn't believe Mycen was letting Alm go at all. Though maybe it was because at this point the boy was just too uncontrollable.

Alm shook his head. "No, I just wanna go as far as possible! I mean, you're with us, so it's gonna be fine, right?"

Himmel pinched his nose. "Please don't use me as an excuse to cause trouble."

The truth is that Himmel's existence was the why of them going on this pilgrimage at all. Typically it was something that would happen when they were older, but since he was such a responsible and strong boy, the adults thought it would be okay for them to go.

Naturally, he didn't want to go at all. This was very much the doing of the village brats being way too excited to see the world outside of the village. Something he couldn't blame them for, but it was still annoying.

Gray snorted, interjecting. "And if you are gonna use him, then at least go somewhere more exciting than a military outpost. Visit a big city or something." Himmel could actually agree on that.

Alm put a hand to his chin. "That's a fair point..." He wasn't gonna deny using Himmel!?

Tobin scowled. "I think you guys should just go to that dusty ol' Mila shrine. I mean, that's what this is for, right? Honoring the Mother?" He was definitely mad, and that anger was caused by envy.

Tobin would not be coming with them, he would need to stay home and take care of his younger siblings. Gray too wouldn't be coming, but in his case it was because he had already traveled with his parents in the past and simply didn't care.

Faye nervously looked around. "I-If Himmel thinks that's best, we should follow him." She had almost not come as well.

Zofia was a pretty safe place, but she was still a cute teen girl, so things could still be pretty dangerous for her. Still, the fact that Himmel knew how to conjure up a hurricane and that Alm was basically a living hurricane was enough to convince her parents that the journey would be a safe one.

They all looked at him, clearly waiting for his answer.

And he stupidly threw in the towel. "You all can pick wherever. I will be fine with it." He wouldn't! Didn't these brats understand how painful a long journey could be!? Especially when they only had one horse!

But this was the one and only adventure they would have during their lives.

Himmel may have been content spending the rest of his days with no great excitement, but that was not the same for a bunch of brats living for the first time. He couldn't take this chance away from them, it would be way too cruel for no reason.

Alm fistbumped the air. "Awesome, then let's go to..." He began eyeballing the map.

Kliff sighed. "How about we choose the obvious location? Zofia's Castle." The home of the king and also basically the capital of Zofia.

A really stupid place to go, considering it would mean traveling half of the country on foot, something which everyone here was smart enough to know. Now Himmel just had to wait for someone to call Kliff on how stupid that option was.

Honestly... Kliff shouldn't even be going with them, he was younger. It's just that his mother decided that since his friends were going, he might as well jump on the opportunity as well.

Sadly for Himmel, Alm was an idiot. "You're right! I mean, there's no better place to go!" At least they hadn't said to go meet Mila or something...

That would mean actually traveling across the entire country. Not that they cared for that clearly, so Himmel could only guess that they had either forgotten the promise or wanted to be with everyone before they went. He really hoped it was the first option.

Faye began gushing. "Yes! We need to go there! Maybe we can see a Pegasus Knight!" Those were common in the capital... "And I heard people there eat things with gold!" She was definitely falling for stupid gossip.

Kliff rolled his eyes. "That's not true, I think. But if we are all in agreement, then that is the place. It should also have tons of churches for Mother Mila so we can actually accomplish our objective." Little brat.

He was trying to be all responsible, but Himmel knew he was the one most excited for this. He couldn't hide the smile on his face.

Alm raised a hand. "Welp, I'm down for it!" Himmel would need to convince him to hide that stupid Brand with a glove or something.

Faye quickly and excitedly nodded. "Yes, let's go to the heart of Zofia."

Tobin muttered to himself. "I'm not down. This is the worst." And yet nobody cared.

Himmel's consent had already been given before, so their destination had now been established... He would have to go all the way to Zofia's Castle and then all the way back. Was it too late to give up on this whole thing?

Gray frowned. "That's not a bad place to go... but you guys should take care." Himmel immediately gave the boy his full attention, he clearly knew what he was talking about. "There isn't a place filled with more shitty nobility in this world than Zofia's Castle, and the king is a total perv."

Faye gasped. "You shouldn't say things like that!" She was kind of right. This type of talk could get him executed.

Gray shrugged. "Eh, who cares? It's not like it's a secret. Everybody knows." That was definitely true.

It was a bit scary that even in the middle of nowhere, which was Ram Village, people constantly shit-talked the king for being a lazy pervert that just fucked all day. It went to show how much of a screw-up he was. Still, nobody really cared too much, because Zofia depended on Mila's blessing more than anything else.

As long as she didn't go bananas like Duma, Zofia would keep prospering. Himmel hoped it would last his entire lifetime.

Faye frowned. "Even so..."

Himmel interjected. "Gray raises a fine point. Which is why we won't cause any trouble. We go into the city, see the sights, purchase some souvenirs, and then return home."

It would just be a quick and easy trip. A small adventure.